Clarke James Carlisle (born 14 October 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender and was chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association.
Born in Preston, he began playing football at a young age, taking inspiration from his father who played semi-professionally. Carlisle represented his home county of Lancashire at youth level. The start of his professional career was his Football League debut for Blackpool in September 1997. He moved to Queens Park Rangers in May 2000. In the same year, Carlisle won three caps for the England under-21 national team. He missed a number of matches for Queens Park Rangers due to a posterior cruciate ligament injury which at one stage led doctors to believe that his career was over. He then missed one month of the 2003–04 season because of an alcohol-related problem, and left Queens Park Rangers at the end of that season. In the summer of 2004, he joined Leeds United on a free transfer.
Carlisle spent just one season with Leeds United before signing for Championship club Watford in August 2005. In the 2005–06 season, his first with Watford, the team finished third in the division and achieved promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs. However, a thigh injury caused Carlisle to miss the majority of the team's season in the top flight. In March 2007 he had a one-month loan spell at Luton Town. In August 2007, Burnley manager Steve Cotterill bought Carlisle from Watford for a transfer fee of £200,000. In the 2008–09 season he played over 40 matches as Burnley reached the semi-finals of the League Cup and finished fifth in the league, earning a place in the play-offs. Carlisle was named man of the match for his performance in the play-off final as Burnley beat Sheffield United 1–0 to return to the top tier of English football for the first time in 33 years.
An imposing figure in the centre of defence thanks to his stature, Carlisle also provided an attacking threat from set pieces.
He is a practising Christian and regularly attends church. He attended Balshaw's Church of England High School where he attained 10 A-grades at GCSE and studied mathematics and politics at A-level, and in 2002 was awarded the title of "Britain's Brainiest Footballer" in a TV game show. He has been an ambassador for the Kick It Out campaign and is a former chairman of the management committee of the Professional Footballers' Association. Carlisle has suffered from recurring problems with alcohol and depression.
Early life and education Carlisle was born in Preston, Lancashire. He grew up in the city with his parents, Mervin and Rose (née Edgar). He went on to study A-level mathematics and politics at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College while he was unable to play football due to an injury. Carlisle has a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting from Staffordshire University, and has expressed interest in taking up teaching work following his football career.
Club career Early career Carlisle was inspired to become a footballer by his father, Mervin, who played semi-professionally for Morecambe and Southport. Carlisle started playing at a young age and represented Lancashire at under-15 level, before being signed by Blackpool where he became a trainee with the youth team. Carlisle signed a professional contract with the club on 13 August 1997 and moved into the first-team squad. On 2 September 1997, he made his debut for Blackpool in the team's 4–3 victory over Wrexham in the Second Division. He scored his first goal as a professional footballer with the 90th-minute winner in the following match, a 2–1 win against Carlisle United at Blackpool's home ground, Bloomfield Road. He was shown the first red card of his career in Blackpool's 1–0 victory against Wigan Athletic in the quarter-final of the Football League Trophy on 27 January 1998. He played 12 matches in his first season, scoring two goals.
The following season, he played 43 matches as Blackpool achieved a 14th-placed finish in the Second Division. His single goal of the campaign came in a 3–1 victory over Stoke City at the Victoria Ground. In the 1999–2000 season, he played 51 times and scored five goals as Blackpool finished 22nd and were relegated to the Third Division. He scored on his 93rd and final league appearance for the club in a 1–1 draw with Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park. Despite the team's relegation, Carlisle's strong defensive performances during his three years at Blackpool attracted the attention of Iain Dowie, who at the time was a scout for Queens Park Rangers.
Queens Park Rangers Dowie recommended Carlisle to Queens Park Rangers manager Gerry Francis, who paid a transfer fee of £250,000 to sign him on 25 May 2000. He played his first match for the team on 12 August 2000 in the 0–0 draw with Birmingham City at Loftus Road. He made a further 31 appearances in the 2000–01 season and scored three times, earning himself a call-up to the England national under-21 team. However, his season was cut short on 31 January 2001, when he suffered his first major injury after a tackle by Rufus Brevett during the 2–0 defeat to Fulham. It was found that Carlisle had torn his posterior cruciate ligament, an injury which kept him sidelined for a year and caused doctors to believe that his career might be over. While he was out of action, Queens Park Rangers suffered relegation to the Second Division after finishing 23rd in the league. Soon after the injury he attempted suicide, and years later was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Upon his return to football, Carlisle was injured again in a reserve-team match against Bristol City, sparking fears that he had aggravated his previous injury. The damage proved not to be particularly severe, although it delayed his return to training by a further month.
After missing the entire 2001–02 campaign, Carlisle returned to competitive football on 7 September 2002 in Queens Park Rangers' 4–0 victory over Mansfield Town. He scored two goals in 41 matches in the 2002–03 season, helping the team to a fourth-placed finish and a spot in the Second Division play-offs. The club reached the 2003 Second Division play-off final, but were defeated 1–0 by Cardiff City at the Millennium Stadium on 25 May 2003. During the following season, Carlisle developed personal problems, including an alcohol addiction, although he continued to play for a number of months. He subsequently missed one month of the season after being admitted to Sporting Chance, a clinic run by former England international footballer Tony Adams, for 28 days for treatment for alcohol-related problems. Upon his return to the team, Carlisle won the Second Division Player of the Month award for November 2003. He scored one goal in 39 matches in 2003–04 as Queens Park Rangers finished as runners-up in the league, achieving promotion to the Championship. Carlisle's contract with Queens Park Rangers ended at the conclusion of the 2003–04 campaign.
Leeds United In June 2004, Carlisle agreed to join recently relegated Championship club Leeds United on a free transfer. He was offered a new contract by Queens Park Rangers, but he was keen to return to northern England and cut short his summer holiday in Tenerife to sign for the West Yorkshire club on a two-year contract. His contract with Leeds began on 1 July 2004, and he made his debut for the club in the 1–1 draw with Nottingham Forest on 21 August. He scored his first goal for Leeds two matches later, netting the first goal in the team's 3–0 victory against Coventry City. He was a regular in the team during the first half of the season, playing in every match from the start of September until the end of November. However, he then experienced another major injury set-back, tearing his ankle ligaments during the 1–0 defeat to Rotherham United on 29 November 2004, an injury which left him out of action for a number of weeks.
When fit again, Carlisle found it difficult to break into the first team as his place in the centre of defence had been taken by Matthew Kilgallon. His return came on 28 December 2004, when he was brought on as an 80th-minute substitute for Frazer Richardson in the 2–1 win against Plymouth Argyle. He started the next league match, against Coventry City, but was shown a red card late on in the 2–1 victory at Highfield Road. After his return from suspension, he was dropped from the team, making just a handful of substitute appearances in the following two months. Carlisle regained his place in the team towards the end of the season, starting in each of the final four matches of the campaign. He left Leeds in the summer of 2005, having spent one season at the club, playing 38 matches and scoring four times for the team as they reached the third round of the League Cup and attained a 14th-placed finish in the league. At the end of the 2004–05 campaign it was revealed that two clubs, Watford and Stoke City, were both competing to sign Carlisle. Leeds United accepted bids of £100,000 from both clubs but Carlisle chose to sign for Watford, and he agreed a three-year contract with the club on 5 August 2005. The deal taking him to Vicarage Road included a clause in his contract stipulating that he would not be played against Leeds in the following season.
Watford and Luton Town
Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd, who had been a coach at Leeds during the previous season, was pleased with the signing, stating that Carlisle was "exactly the type of defender I wanted". Carlisle was placed straight into Watford's starting line-up and played his first match for his new club on 6 August 2005, but he could not prevent the team losing 2–1 to Preston North End at Vicarage Road. On 29 August 2005, Carlisle scored his first goal for the club, claiming the winning header in a 2–1 victory over Derby County at Pride Park. Soon after, Carlisle scored two goals in a competitive match for the first time in his career, grabbing both in Watford's 2–1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the second round of the League Cup.
On 4 November 2005, Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Glenn Hoddle accused Carlisle of stamping on goalkeeper Michael Oakes in the match the previous weekend, and threatened to report him to the Football Association. However, the referee did not show Carlisle a red or yellow card during the match, and no further action was taken against the player. During the 2005–06 campaign, Carlisle made 35 appearances and scored five goals, helping Watford to achieve a place in the play-offs after finishing third in the Championship. However, towards the end of the season he suffered yet another injury, being forced off the pitch in Watford's penultimate league match away at Queens Park Rangers. The thigh problem caused him to be unavailable for the play-offs as Watford defeated Leeds 3–0 at the Millennium Stadium to win promotion to the FA Premier League.